I put in calls to two local farms that either sell at or run their own markets to see what crops are coming to market this weekend. Break out the cookbooks and start planning next week's menus based around the freshest local produce around, bought from the hands of the people who pulled it from the ground.
(Based in Punta Gorda, this organic CSA sells extra produce at Sarasota's Downtown Farmer's Market from both their farm and other local farms)
According to Eva Worden, they'll be bringing: onions, potatoes, cooking greens and lettuces, watermelon, squash, lots of herbs, sunflowers ("mother’s day this weekend, of course"), Florida peaches from a neighbor ("the white ones are the best, but they.re tender and bruise easily"), tomatoes, beautiful crop of asian eggplant, sungold tomatoes (sweet cherry tomatoes), grapefruit, cabbage, carrots, beets, radishes, leeks, scallions, green beans, maybe some of the purple beans, and maybe cantaloupe.
Tomorrow I'll post up the list from Sweetwater Organic in Tampa.
This article appears in May 7-13, 2008.